A total of 18 people, including two Koreans, who trafficked drugs in Vietnam were sentenced to death locally. One of them, a former Korean police officer, was caught by Vietnamese police while trying to transport drugs through his business.
According to Vietnam’s VN Express and VNA on the 11th (local time), the Ho Chi Minh Family and Juvenile Court indicted a total of Korean former police officers A (63) and B (30), as well as Chinese Mr. C (58), on drug trafficking charges. 18 people were sentenced to death. Fifteen people, excluding three, are Vietnamese, and they are suspected of distributing 216kg worth of drugs.
According to the media, this case is the case with the largest number of death sentences among drug cases in Vietnam.
Mr. A worked as a police officer in Korea and was dismissed for violating regulations. Since then, he has been imprisoned six times in Korea for violating immigration laws between 2000 and 2016. Later, starting in 2019, he started a business exporting granite from the local area to Korea with his Vietnamese girlfriend.
In 2020, Mr. A got to know Mr. C, a Chinese man, while eating at a local Korean restaurant. Mr. C offered Mr. A 5 million won per kg if he transported the drugs, and Mr. A accepted this offer. In addition, Mr. B, who was Mr. A’s cellmate, also joined in the crime.
In July 2020, Mr. A and Mr. B received a total of 39.5kg of drugs on three occasions from the Vietnamese leader. They planned to send drugs to Korea by hiding them among the granite being exported to Korea, but they were caught by the police at Keon Lai Port. During the search of the granite container, the police confirmed 40 plastic bags containing 39.5 kg of methamphetamine (philopon).
Vietnam, which maintains a communist system, has introduced and operates the world’s strictest drug punishment laws, like China. Anyone who manufactures more than 100 grams of heroin or 300 grams of other illegal drugs, or possesses or transports more than 2.5 kilograms of methamphetamine, can be sentenced to death.
According to local police, the ‘Golden Triangle’, the border area between Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos, produces 25% of the world’s drugs. Ho Chi Minh City has recently become a base for drug gangs as its transportation infrastructure has developed.
Choi Jae-ho,
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.